19/20

Morning.  It is Christmas Eve's Eve and what a busy weekend it was.  I am and always will be a little obsessive about Christmas and traditions. Yesterday, I let myself get all overwhelmed and bent out of shape - there is still so much to do!  And then today, I read this, and I remember again what is important.  Love.  And Trust.  

Saturday, we got to be a part of extending an opportunity to our friends to love an amazing family.  We were able to extend love, with our actions, ourselves.

If you haven't yet, please consider giving to the Jorgensen's.  And whether you give cash or don't - please pray for them. As you can hear below - they are pure gold.  I have only met them once or twice on visits to Nashville, but over the past years I've heard them in dozens and dozens of stories.  "Dana's helping Jason with the roof this week." "Julie and I are heading away for a girls weekend." They have been there for my sister and brother across the states, to support and strengthen them through their hurts and trials, their house troubles, their tired days.  I want to help take care of them, because they've always taken care of the people I love and can't always reach. 

I want to help take care of them because I feel this is the heart of a Christian - to love and trust.  With your actions.  With your money.  With your time.  With your words and your prayer and your devotion.  Love one another. 

In all that is happening around - I have never been more sure that Christ is Supreme.  He is in control. All we have to do is give everything to love and trust Him. 

Noel. 
God with us. 



December 14, 2013 - Dana Jorgensen:

Hey friends. I'm not one for using Facebook to post these things but I don't have enough time in my day to respond to everyone. If you have called or left a message, thank you for your kind words. Please know that I have received your message. I will post as much as I know right now. 
A couple of weeks ago Julie found a mass under her left arm. Two weeks ago we went in for a biopsy, and this past week we found out the mass is metastatic melanoma.

To say the least, we are devastated. Right now we are waiting for our first appointment at Vanderbilt which will be December 23rd. Julie will undergo many tests and surgery to remove the mass. Please pray. Pray that the cancer hasn't spread, and specifically to her organs. Now, Let me be clear.... as much as I hurt for my wife, I choose to believe this promise - Jesus loves Julie and she belongs to him. Julie was bought at a price. Regardless of the results, that does not change His love for her. God is the same as he was before the diagnosis and he will be the same when this is over. As a man who likes to fix stuff, I wish I could take this or fix it, but I can't. So as we enter into the Christmas season, Julie, Kai and I will be trusting in the one who came to earth and laid down his life for us. We believe that he is with us in the lowest places of our lives, carrying us when we struggle to take the next step.


December 18, 2013 - Julie Jorgensen:

I'm never one to post much about my life on Facebook but here's a little update: My doctor's appointment is booked for Monday, December 30 @ 8 am. I will meet with a surgical oncologist that specializes in melanoma and he will decide what tests I will need and hopefully I will get those appointments quickly and then I am assuming surgery will be scheduled following those results. I will have a much better idea of what's going to happen after that appointment. Right now a lot is unknown. Obviously the biggest unknown is whether the cancer has spread anywhere else. Please continue to pray that it hasn't and that god would heal me from this. Thank you for praying. It means so much to me that there are hundreds of people all across the world praying for my healing around the clock. So many people have said they are praying all day and god is waking people up at night to pray for me even as I sleep. I am seeing what it really means to be a part of the body of Christ because i do not feel alone in this and your prayers are not futile. It's not just hopeful thinking; there is so much power in your prayers. I am seeing god answer prayers and take care of us in the many hard details that are coming up these days. Just when I need something specific and tangible, he provides it for me that day. Over and over this is happening. And He has given me a peace that truly does pass all understanding right now. The peace I feel does not make sense and so I know it is from god alone. It is not that I am in denial of how serious this is and what the outcome could be and it's not that I haven't sobbed over my disappointment for what could be coming for us; I have. But god pulls me out of it and sets my feet on a rock in a way that I could not do for myself. I am not a strong person. I have said many times "I could never do that" when someone seems at peace in a horrific situation. But god really does give you the grace you need on the days you need it so that you can get through more than you thought you could. 
Thank you for all of your prayers and support in other ways. I am so grateful. I will post updates as I get more information in the next couple weeks. 

The LMN Holiday Card went out today. :) 

We had lots of fun the last few weeks working on this little memo. 

I just can't focus today at work - 

Because I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!!! 

18/20

Two years ago today, I was quietly waiting for test results.  I'd told a friend I'd found a lump, and though she told me it was probably nothing, I couldn't stop thinking about it.  I waited a few weeks and checked again.  It was real.  I saw a doctor just to make sure, just so she could tell me that I was worried about nothing. Instead, she scheduled me an appointment with the breast cancer clinic at Evergreen.  I checked in, got my robe, and waited quietly.  Again, I was thinking "they'll just tell me it's nothing."  They didn't.  They scheduled me a biopsy.  And then for a week I waited silently. I was due to hear back on my sister's birthday, and Kim and Jason were arriving for Christmas a week later - there was no way in hell I was going to tell my family if it came back positive - and telling them about my appointments would force my hand in any case.

Less than a month later I turned 25 and a whole lot older.  I'd finally received that "it's nothing" news, but dear Lord had I undergone some changes in the wait.

And that's the least that cancer has affected my life. Because many don't hear back "it's nothing." I hate it.  Really, really hate it.  It took my good friend in her early twenties. It gave my cousin Hope one hell of a ride while she raised her young family.  Earlier this year, it took my Godfather from us. And our pastor. And today alone, I heard word that two women very dear to people in my life have been diagnosed with it.  I hate cancer.

It's one of the scariest things a family can face.  I'm praying for them.  Please pray too.